This paper attempts to work on a number of different levels. Firstly, it comprises my personal reflections on a career in sociology of education. These reflections are entwined with a history of the discipline that emphasises themes of power, politics and pragmatism. This subjective, and inevitably partial, account is combined with an examination…

Recently, the term "science of reading" has been used in public debate to promote policies and instructional practices based on research on the basic cognitive mechanisms of reading, the neural processes involved in reading, computational models of learning to read, and the like. According to those views, such data provide convincing…

Teacher preparation institutions have been critiqued for insufficient emphasis on the science of reading. The authors argue that although improving early reading success and teacher preparation are both critical issues, today's "science of reading" discourse does not fully capture the complexity of teaching students to read. First, the…

Founded in 1934, the Vatican School of Librarianship, in its early days, aimed at forming both secular and religious librarians following the North American library tradition. Later on, teaching has been largely based on international standards. A brief outline of the initial setting of the School is provided. Presently, the School includes eight…

Empirical and conceptual literature on career and workforce development increasingly cites the importance of connections between policy, research and practice domains. Yet, few if any models inform such collaborations. In the proposed Tripartite Model of Program Evaluation, the inter-play between these three key stakeholder groups is…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate, compare, and characterize interactive VR-based preservice science teacher clinical teaching environments with those of real-life teaching environments. Fifty-four college-aged students were assigned randomly to either real-life conditions or VR conditions. The main effect of the VR condition…

This paper provides a critical reflection on teacher education and professional development in Northern Ireland between 2003 and 2018. It argues that whilst there is much about teacher education in Northern Ireland that is to be commended, the unique socio-historical, political and cultural context within which it operates may be considered as a…

In numerous workshops and course design retreats, we have modeled the course design process using a fictional course (entitled "Colorado Mountain Hiking") to help instructors bridge the gap between course design theory and practice. We have found this example to be effective because it: a) is accessible to colleagues of different…

This article explores the nature of education as a vital part of human knowledge. The argument that is presented addresses the critique of education as having epistemological weaknesses as an academic discipline. The argument is framed by scholarship that has categorised the discipline of education as derived from three main traditions of…

John Dewey's philosophy of education did not arise in a vacuum. Much as Dewey himself would have recognized, his experiences shaped his philosophy. The experiences described include Dewey's time as a boy in Burlington, Vermont; his graduate education at Johns Hopkins University, and his first academic post at the University of Michigan; concluding…

Training preservice teachers as teachers of reading is a complex task, as is reading itself. Preservice teachers need to understand the theory that underpins practice; the cognitive skills and knowledge required to read and the contextual factors that impact beginner readers. This longitudinal, mixed-methods study evaluates the benefits for…

This paper presents the findings from a study on the dynamic and nuanced relationship between strategy theory and strategy practice in a South African context. Grounded in a strategy-as-practice perspective and based on an abductive analysis of sixteen semi-structured interviews, the empirical findings deepen our conceptual understanding of how…

This paper responds to the need to support complexities of literacy instruction by identifying and illustrating teaching strategies used by a practicing special education teacher rooted in a multi-theoretical approach to teaching literacy. We argue the importance of teaching from multiple theoretical standpoints and utilizing student-centered,…

For decades, the fields of early childhood intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) have been promoting child participation in naturally occurring family and classroom activities and routines as the context for intervention and the use of caregiver coaching as a capacity-building, family-centered interaction style. The…

This article explores pedagogical renewal through an analysis of vignettes from four international pre-service teachers in an initial teacher education programme at an Australian university where learner-centred practices are prioritised. To understand their pedagogical journeys during their course, data was collected through a series of questions…